Georgetown
University art historian Ori Soltes walks
audiences through 3,000 years of Jewish art and architecture in a presentation
of his bookTradition and Transformation: Three Millennia of Jewish Art &
Architecture. A project three decades in the making, the volume presents a
staggeringly complete investigation of what it means to define a work of art as
“Jewish art”. Soltes examines the impact of identity, faith, and aesthetics on
a wide range of creators, and while he doesn’t claim to arrive at an absolute answer,
he is sure to challenge and enlighten you through the search. His presentation,
like his book, will include numerous visuals to help take you from Ancient Rome
to the dawn of the twenty-first century.

“Mr. Soltes has
done a staggering job in charting the 3000-year trajectory of
Jewish Art…[and] he has successfully articulated the historical,
religious and cultural currents whereby a new Jewish Art has
forthrightly emerged.” -- Joel Silverstein, artist, curator, art critic
and theorist